2023-12-30 20:29:49 ¶ ●

I like how in the OG Hannibal movies, Hannibal’s profiling of Clarice is meant to be an insulting, cunning, and power-hungry move. Hannibal has more information therefore he sucks in all the control within the room (prison hallway?). In nbc’s Hannibal, Hannibal’s profiling of a now married Will, whilst somewhat mocking, is less of a grapple for authority and is more of a show of how intimate they still are despite the years of separation. Through the things Hannibal observes and calls out about Will, by virtue of their shared past, we immediately understand the significance of Will’s “moving on” to Hannibal, and through Will’s silence, we understand that there is a certain truth to Hannibal’s implications, despite what Will’s cozy lakeside cabin, Molly, Walter, the numerous dogs and “good deeds of saving strays” (– which, while before Will collected strays, it was less altruistic and more that this is his specific fixation – and after Molly, this has turned into something more charitable) are painting the image of. Therefore it is at once devastating, the knowledge that Will is continuing to struggle with no relief, that Hannibal knows that Will knows and there’s an insult there, that Will hates that Hannibal knows, that Will feels intimately for Hannibal in the aftermath of being seen in such a way, and there is sentiment here. Not to say this is a comparison of both scenes since their purpose is different, but I find it so fun that you can use the same blueprint and previous context gives it an altogether new life.